“There are all sorts of disincentives and punishments for being late, and the paradox is we’re late even when those punishments and consequences exist,” Justin Kruger, a social psychologist at New York University’s School of Business told Reddy.

One of the most obvious and common reasons that people are frequently late is that they simply fail to accurately judge how long a task will take – something known as the planning fallacy.

Research has shown that people on average underestimate how long a task will take to complete by a significant 40 percent.

Another trait, which could very well be linked to the first, is that forever-late-comers are more likely to be multitaskers. In a 2003 study run by Jeff Conte from San Diego State University in the US, found that out of 181 subway operators in New York City, those who preferred multitasking – or polychronicity – were more often late to their job.

In 2001, Conte also discovered that there’s also a personality type that’s more likely to be late. While highly strung, achievement oriented Type A individuals are more likely to be punctual, Type B individuals, who are more laid-back, are later.

In fact, Type A and Type B people actually feel time pass differently, as Reddy reports. Over three previous studies Conte found that, for Type A individuals, a minute passed in 58 seconds, where as Type B people felt a minute pass in a leisurely 77 seconds.

“So if you have an 18-second gap… that difference can add up over time,” Conte told Reddy.

Of course, knowing all of this doesn’t necessarily help fix the problem – it’s estimated that the US loses US$90 billion each year as a result of people running late.

But scientists are also starting to hone in on strategies that can slowly improve our punctuality.

For people who constantly underestimate tasks, breaking down an activity into very detailed steps can help people more accurately estimate how long something will take.